Eataly Sports Food And Art Exhibition For The Olympic Games

The International Migration Art Festival has launched its 'Sport Your Food' exhibition in celebration of art, haute cuisine, and this summer's London 2012 Olympics. The exhibit runs through June 19 at Eataly in New York.

'Sport Your Food' is an epicurean exhibition that challenged five teams of international chefs and artists to creatively interpret an Olympic sport. The result is a group of installations that include a culinary video of the chefs preparing their recipes alongside an artistic piece.

Life-like holograms of each chef-artist pair are displayed next to their projects that discuss their experiences with the project and provide viewers with a nuanced understanding of the intention and inspiration behind their work.

Portions of the exhibit were unveiled at Mario Batali's Eataly Tuesday night.

Contributors include chef-artist pair Massimo Bottura, a 3-Michelin star chef, and Gregg LeFevre, an award-winning photographer and sculptor. Inspired by the pole vault, Bottura presents his recipe for 'Fois Gras Crunch.' The video of Bottura creating the dish is accompanied by LeFevre's photographic installation "Balancing Act," "Legs," "Hand Pole," "Smoker," and "Pony."

Chef-artist pair Christine Bowerman, an Apulian chef, and Fulvio Piazza, a Sicilian painter, created a recipe for 'BLT Italian Style' that is based on Bowerman's interpretation of the discus throw which is paired with Piazza's work 'Bruscobolo.'

These collaborations attempt to answer the question "Is food the new art?" and seek to uncover the ways in which food and art are similarly perceived by contemporary audiences. Like artists, today's chefs are elevating their cooking to a state of not only physical, but also intellectual and emotional stimulation.

"Art is similar to cooking in that there are many layers and lists of preparation to put together when creating a piece," said LeFevre in an interview with The Daily Meal. "In the intermediate stages, a sculptor uses plastics and unattractive materials that are fused together to create a beautiful final product. Artists and chefs are similar in the way that both are concerned about the look of their final product and the art of presentation."